May 31, 2017

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Twitch’s Stock Stream gives you real money to invest

by John_A

Ever since the start of Twitch Plays Pokemon, we’ve seen gamers collectively play everything from Dark Souls to a claw machine, beat every Pokemon generation and create modern art. And now with Stock Stream, Twitch viewers can play the stock market in the best way possible — with someone else’s money.

Stock Stream went live yesterday and allows viewers to vote every five minutes on which stocks to buy or sell, using $50,000 fronted by a software developer. The move that gets the most votes is initiated automatically through the free trading app Robinhood.

There are some limitations. Day-trading regulations require the pool of money to stay above $25,000. If it dips below that amount, trading has to stop and the game is over. And there are some small repercussions for those participating. If a stock you voted for is purchased and does well, you’ll get points (for whatever that’s worth). But if something you voted for does poorly, you’ll get docked, though the scoring rules are likely to change.

Trusting a random group of people with thousands of your own dollars seems like it could easily go awry. But with only 78 trades happening per day, even a colossal failure is likely to happen at a fairly slow place. As of writing, Stock Stream is down for the day but up around $40 over all. And if working to make someone else more money feels like a gross capitalist use of Twitch, just check out the Bob Ross channel or the end of the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood marathon. Those are always a good time.